Screen-Free Week 2012: Turn off the TV, and Turn On Life!

How many hours a day would you guess that you stare at a television, computer screen, video game, or cell phone? According to a 2010 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, on average, children aged 8-18 spends about seven and a half hours using entertainment media every day. And because so much of that time is spent using more than one medium at a time, it’s really more like 11 hours worth of media content. Furthermore, the average teenager in 7th -12th grade spends about an hour and a half every day just sending and receiving texts! On average, Black and Hispanic children consume much more TV than white kids–black children watching almost six hours per day, Latino youth about five and a half hours per day, and white kids three and a half hours a day.

A down side to watching TV and using the computer is that you are not physically active (except maybe a little bit with games like Wii Sports). And especially for teens, this is not good. Approximately 12.5 million of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are considered obese. Physical inactivity is a risk factor for not only obesity, but also Type 2 diabetes. Heavy media users also tend to perform poorly in school, usually getting fair or poor grades (mostly C’s or lower). In addition to that, getting wrapped up in screens can be detrimental to developing a well-rounded social life. TV, social media sites, and video games may be entertaining, but they are no substitute for interactions with real people.

Understandably though, with the irresistible lure of modern luxuries such as DVR-ing your favorite television shows (can you say, Once Upon A Time marathon?), updating your Facebook status, or even spending hours exploring the awesome Teen Voices website (ahem!), it can be hard to motivate yourself to get up off the couch and pursue a more physical or social activity such as taking a walk, riding your bike, or doing Double Dutch.

Luckily for all of us, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is sponsoring Screen-Free Week 2012! Started in 1996, the goal is to give children and families around the country a chance to turn off the screens they use for entertainment, and turn on life! For one whole week, you can use your creativity to think up great new ways to spend your free time, whether it be finally cracking open that book you’ve been meaning to read; taking a walk around your city; playing a game of soccer with your friends; swimming at the beach; going for a hike in the woods with your family; or even enjoying a jog through your neighborhood. The possibilities are endless. The fact that it’s spring will hopefully make it more appealing to go outside.

Another piece of good news is that YOU can help spread the word about Screen-Free Week and inspire others to start themselves on the path to a healthier, more active lifestyle by downloading an Organizer’s Kit at the Screen Free Week website.

So, get up off that couch, and get moving! And start talking! To find out more information about Screen Free Week, visit their website.

About Teen Voices

Teen Voices is an intensive journalism mentoring and leadership development program for teen girls in Boston. Our mission is to support and educate teen girls, amplify their voices, and create social change through media.

Through this program, and with submissions from girls around the world, the teens create an internationally distributed online and print magazine by, for, and about teen girls. Teen Voices is positive and empowering, and amplifies girls' real voices in a world filled with media focused on what girls look like—not what they think. Join us at teenvoices.com!